Shifting Dreams Page 3

  That brought Matt up short. “Well… there’s some of that, of course, but it’s pretty rare. We’re a small town and most people look out for each other. Pretty close families.”

  “That’s good.” Caleb narrowed his eyes at the squirming man. “Mayor Marquez—”

  “Please, call me Matt. Everyone does.” The young mayor was a little disappointed by that, if Caleb had to guess.

  “Matt, why did the city council decide to hire a police chief? Honestly, it sounds like the sheriff’s department was doing a good job taking care of the stuff you needed done.”

  “Well”—Matt nodded nervously—“the sheriff’s department is excellent, of course. But I believe some changes are coming to the community that will make it beneficial to have our own independent police force.”

  “Changes, huh?”

  “Not anything I can talk about right now. And you’ll meet the council tonight when I announce your hiring.”

  Caleb blinked. “Wait. The city council doesn’t even know you hired me?” He leaned forward. “What do you mean? Who approved the funds for my salary?”

  “I did.” Matt smiled. “I have… discretionary funds in the budget to cover it. Please don’t worry about being paid, Chief Gilbert.”

  He wasn’t worried about the money. He really didn’t need it, but the idea of being thrown into the deep end of unfamiliar small-town politics irked him. “I don’t want to be seen as an intruder here.”

  “You will be.” Matt shrugged helplessly. “There’s no avoiding that, I’m afraid. Like I said, this is a very small town. An old town with old families and there’s no one we could have brought in that wouldn’t feel like an outsider, at least for a while.”

  “Why not hire from within, then? Surely there were people who might have some connection—”

  “I didn’t want a connection,” Matt said firmly. “The town needs fresh blood. We need new perspective. People need to be more accepting of change and part of the change is you, Chief. I hope it doesn’t scare you off, but eventually, everyone will adapt.” Another campaign-worthy grin crossed the young man’s face. “It’s a very friendly place, once everyone gets to know you. I promise.”

  “Right.” Somehow, Caleb had a feeling this was going to be far harder than the mayor hoped. “Right.”

  After an abbreviated tour of Cambio Springs’ small downtown and a trip out to the “station house,” which was really an abandoned building between the town and The Cave, Caleb and Mayor Matt pulled into the parking lot of a small building with a cross on top.

  “A church?” he asked. “You have your town meetings at a church?”

  “Non-denominational,” Matt explained. “More of a chapel, really. We’re not big enough to have many houses of worship, so it kind of rotates. The Catholics have a week, then the Baptists. We just take turns.”

  Caleb nodded. It was unusual, but admirable, in a way. “Well, good for you. And everyone will be here?”

  “I’m sure they will. Town meetings tend to be very well attended.”

  There sure were plenty of cars in the parking lot, more than one he recognized from The Cave the night before. Was one of them Jena’s? He’d finally left the bar after another ten minutes of making out and still another hour chatting at the bar and wanting to get her alone again. She was fantastic. Caleb had been looking for signs of her everywhere they went that day, but so far, no luck.

  Plus, he had a sneaking suspicion she wasn’t going to be thrilled to see him.

  As he mounted the steps, he looked up. An old cross hung over the doors and Caleb sent up a quick plea that, somehow, he’d see Jena again. And that the first crime he investigated in his new job wouldn’t be an assault on him for lying to her. He hadn’t really lied.

  Exactly.

  Matt opened the doors and the blessed air-conditioning poured out. The two men stepped into the small foyer and Caleb blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. The first thing he really saw was a beautiful stained-glass window at the front of the church with a lion lying next to a lamb. The next thing he saw was a room full of people. And very near the front, just to the left of the aisle, was the flushed face and furious eyes of the beautiful woman he’d been kissing the night before.

  Caleb grinned and caught her eye. What do you know? Heaven was smiling on him after all.

  Chapter Three

  Jena’s eyes widened for a second before she spun around and tried to slouch down as far as she could in the hard church pews.

  “God hates me,” she muttered.

  Allie frowned down at her. “What are you doing? And I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to talk about how God hates you when you’re in church.”

  Ted was craning her neck to stare at the handsome stranger. “Who is he? He’s hot. Hot men never come to the Springs. Is he lost?”

  Allie said, “Alex is hot. Weren’t you just talking about how good he looks since the last time—”

  “Shuuuut up, Allie, his mother is sitting right across the aisle from you. And technically, Alex doesn’t live in the Springs anymore.”

  “Shut up, both of you,” Jena hissed. “That lying asshole!”

  “Jena, language!” Allie said, motioning around them to the normally comforting walls of Cambio Springs’ only house of worship. “And what did Alex lie about? Have you talked to him since he’s been here? Joe said he only got in yesterday. Did he come into the diner?”

  “Not talking about Alex.”

  Jena could almost feel Ted’s eyes boring into the side of her head as she tried to slouch farther down in the seat. It was fairly difficult considering how tall she was. She’d never wished for Allie’s petite figure more.

  The small church buzzed with the normal chatter that usually preceded Elder meetings, though slightly quieter and more guarded since a stranger was present. It wasn’t unheard of for someone to visit a meeting. Outsiders could stay for the first part. Then they were politely escorted out so the real meeting could begin.

  The seven oldest members of the original town families sat up in the front of the church at a table that had been set up. The two McCanns, Jena’s Grandmother Crowe, Old Mr. Campbell and Old Joe Quinn. Despite his dubious reputation and propensity to run out on his diner tab, he was still the oldest member of the reptiles, and some traditions did not change. Paula Leon was also there sitting next to Ted’s Grandpa Vasquez.

  Most of the elders were just that, old. Shifters who lived a normal life and stayed in the Springs got around one hundred and twenty years of robust health, not that an outsider could tell by looking at them. Jena’s grandmother didn’t look a day over seventy. It was the way of things. Her grandfather had died almost thirty years before, but he was from away and Jena didn’t remember him. The rest of the people in attendance were mostly shifters. Most spouses and other residents weren’t required to be there.

  In Cambio Springs, you were born a shifter, you married one, or you occupied one of the truly rare “friend who could keep a secret” spots. And most shifters married outside the town, which was a good idea if you wanted to avoid that pesky inbreeding problem.

  Hey, honey, do you love me? Let’s get married and move to the desert so our children can turn into coyotes and grow up among their peers. It’ll be fun!

  No wonder so many people stayed single.

  “Jena…” Ted began. “Why are you trying to do an impression of Norman Quinn?” Norman’s natural form was a desert tortoise. Needless to say, getting stuffed in a locker by the McCann boys happened on a regular basis.

  “Shut up. Does he look like he’s staying for the meeting? God hates me.”

  Allie said, “Why do you keep saying that? And he’s taking a seat in the back row, so yeah, it looks like he’s staying.”

  “Why are you…?” Ted’s laser beam eyes narrowed, then widened in excitement. “Oh! He’s the Hot Cowboy, isn't he?”

  Jena slapped her hand over Ted’s mouth. “Shut. Up.”

  “The amazing kisser?�
�� Allie whispered, leaning closer to Jena. “You said he was from Indio.”

  “Obviously,” Jena said through gritted teeth, “I was somewhat misled about that.”

  “Oh.” Allie’s blue eyes narrowed and her bow mouth tried its best to look severe. “He is an ass—suming person.” She changed course when Ted’s mother, Lena Vasquez, glared at her from the first row. “To… assume that you would not find out about him… not being from Indio.”

  Ted snorted as Jena pulled her hand away. “Nice save, Allie. Awkward, but nice.”

  Jena said, “At least she didn’t announce my embarrassing make-out session to the whole town, like some people.”

  “I don’t remember you describing it as embarrassing.” Ted shifted so she could look over her shoulder again. “‘Mind-numbing.’ ‘Fantastic.’ Allie, I missing anything?”

  “Something about him doing more with his lips than most men could do with their—”

  “Why am I friends with either of you?” Jena hissed again. “Shut up. My grandmother is already looking at me.”

  Ted murmured, “He’s way hotter than you said, Jen.”

  Ted’s mother glanced back and lifted a curious eyebrow. “You know the visitor, mija?”

  “No,” Jena said.

  “Yes,” Allie said at the same time. “He came into The Cave when Jena was working last night. They were—”

  “Flirting,” Jena interrupted. “You know… just flirting. Kinda.”

  Ted smirked. “Is that what they’re calling it now?”

  “Don’t tease your friend, Teodora. And all three of you girls turn around and stop giggling. The meeting is about to start. Jena, we’ll find out why your new friend is here soon enough.”

  Kill me now. Ted’s mom knew, which meant all the cat clan would soon know. Lena’s mother would tell her Grandma Crowe. Then word would trickle down to the Quinns…

  “Shit.”

  Ted muffled a laugh and Jena elbowed her. Allie was blushing a little, still embarrassed to be corrected, even at age thirty-two.

  Soon enough, Robert McCann, Alex’s father and the unofficial head of the council, opened up the meeting with a short prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. “Now, I’d like to give the floor to Mayor Matt,” Robert said. “He’s got a visitor tonight that he’d like to introduce. Matt?”

  Poor Matt, Jena thought for the thousandth time. In another life, he’d probably have a great future in politics. He was bright and charming. He tried to promote progress in a way that Cambio Springs desperately needed and just as desperately resisted. He had a beautiful, supportive wife and family. Matt Marquez could have gone far.

  Unfortunately for his political future, he didn’t have another life; he had one where he turned into a bobcat every few weeks and had to contend with the female-dominated cat clan who populated much of the Springs. Matt Marquez was a cat shifter from the Leon family who had married into the Vasquez clan, knowing full well he would never escape the town once he did. The cats, like the wolves, rarely wandered far.

  “Hey, folks!” Matt stood and walked to the front with a confident step. “There are some exciting things going on. As many of you know, since the base closed down, we’ve been applying for a lot of federal money to get some more development in town and create jobs.”

  Matt paused, but you could have heard a pin drop, so he continued. “Well, I’m happy to say that a lot of those grants are coming through! And one of the things they’re funding is our own police station.” A few quiet rumblings started among the Quinns in the back of the room and Jena’s senses came alive with tension.

  This was not good.

  Matt was still talking. “While we’ve been making do with the sheriff’s office, our own dedicated police force is something we’ve needed for a long time.”

  Ollie’s deep voice may have been quiet, but it carried throughout the room. “For what?”

  Matt looked irritated. “Well… for a lot of reasons. It’s better in an emergency if we have our own—”

  Ted interrupted this time. “What emergencies? Between me and the volunteer fire fighters, we have most of the regular stuff covered.”

  Matt held up his hands and nodded. “Ted, I agree. For medical emergencies and any kind of rescue work, you and the fire department do an amazing job. We’re lucky to have you. But in other cases, the sheriff’s office—”

  “There a crime spree happening we don’t know about?” someone—Jena thought it was one of the Quinns—piped up from the back.

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask your brother?” another voice answered. Scattered laughter spread across the room. Jena glanced back at Caleb-who-was-not-just-passing-through. He had an amused expression on his face and was watching the room with measuring eyes.

  “Aren’t you responsible?”

  “Pathologically.”

  He was a cop. He was their cop.

  Jena died a little inside. Shit. There was a reason she didn’t date. She didn’t have time and she didn’t particularly want her personal life spread around any more than it was already. Everyone in the room had known her since she was born. She was Lowell’s widow. Low Jr. and Aaron’s mom. Tom and Cathy Crowe’s daughter. Max and Beverly’s beloved daughter-in-law. The owner of the Blackbird Diner. A responsible, hard-working, single mother.

  And she wasn’t known as a woman who fooled around with strange men at The Cave.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

  One lonely night. One irresistible grin. Jena had given in to a passing impulse and was now, no doubt, going to be thrown into the deep end of the Cambio Springs’ gossip pool.

  Matt was trying to regain the attention of the church. “Everyone, I know that this is going to be a change, but—”

  “What about Dev?” Ollie asked in his attention-commanding voice. “Dev’s in the sheriff’s department, and he’s always made the Springs a priority if we need anything. I still don’t understand why we’re wasting the money on some cop from who-knows-where.”

  Jena glanced around. No one was arguing with Ollie. They rarely did. When the quiet man offered his opinion, people listened and they generally did what he said. Just then, she saw Alex McCann rise to his feet.

  If Cambio Springs had a golden child, it was Alex McCann. Oldest son of the oldest son, Alex was the descendant of the elder McCann brother, one of the two Confederate veterans who had come west with a mismatched group of families to the isolated springs in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The McCanns became the wolves and other canine shifters. If her husband Lowell had shifted and survived, he would have given his loyalty to Alex. If either of her sons shifted into a wolf—which they had a fifty percent chance of doing—they would belong to the McCanns. The wolves were the unofficial alphas of Cambio Springs and, other than the cats—who had no loyalty to anyone but themselves—they led and others followed. Alex was the heir apparent.

  And he was also one of her closest friends. He may have lived away for now, but everyone knew he would end up back in the Springs. It was his town.

  Alex walked up to the table, leaning casually against the podium set off to the side.

  “Hey, everyone. Hope you’re all doing okay tonight. Thanks for coming out. I know this meeting was kind of last minute.”

  Jena could see the expression around Matt’s eyes tighten. He wasn’t pleased, but he wasn’t going to say anything, either.

  Matt said, “Thanks for stepping up, Alex. Maybe you could explain a little better—”

  “You know, folks, I think this is a good move.”

  Alex was being deceptively casual. He was putting on the easygoing charm that made him such a successful real estate investor in Southern California. When Alex McCann wanted to get his way, he didn’t try to convince you. He just explained things in such a way that you came to the decision all by yourself.

  “I think things in the Springs are changing for the better. We’re going to be having some investment coming in soon. Some new challenges come along
with that. It’s just my opinion, but I think Matt’s made a good decision here.”

  “What kind of changes?” Ollie asked.

  Jena saw the two old friends exchange some wordless conversation before Ollie’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and he settled in his seat.

  Alex continued. “And I think the mayor’s done a hell of a job picking a new chief of police. Caleb Gilbert—Caleb, do you mind coming up?”

  Alex lifted a hand and Jena stiffened when Caleb-who-was-kind-of-a-liar walked up to the front of the church. If possible, he was even better looking in full light. The previous night at The Cave, she’d been attracted to his smile first. He had a gorgeous full mouth that kept lifting at the corner, like he was amused by a private joke. She knew she’d never seen him before, but something about him seemed familiar. He had angled features that hinted at some Native American blood, a mess of wavy brown hair, and eyes that were almost black in the low light of the bar. But it was his mouth, those unexpectedly full lips curved up with mischief, that had dragged her attention back to him over and over again as she worked. She saw him peeking at her from the corner of his eye as he walked toward the front.

  “Nice ass,” Ted whispered.

  “Nice boots,” Allie said. “No wonder you—”

  “Please, shut up.”

  Actually, on second thought, Caleb-with-the-superb-ass-and-boots didn’t walk. He swaggered. Jena narrowed her eyes. Yep, that was definitely a swagger. A cocky one. One that said, “I’m going to blow your mind with my kisses, then hang around for another hour looking tempting.” Okay, maybe it only said that to her. Jena peeked at her two best friends, one of whom was married and the other who claimed no man would ever live up to her exacting standards. Two sets of eyes followed Caleb intently.

  Never mind, apparently the swagger was a universal language.

  She was an idiot for thinking she could have one crazy night without consequences. It may have been just a kiss—or a few—but Jena Crowe was not the kind that usually gave in to temptation that way. It was one thing when he was a cute guy passing through town that she’d likely never see again. Someone who lived in the Springs? No way. She was just going to have to pretend the new chief of police didn’t exist.